Purest Winter
by She'sNoGLASSDOLL
Summary: The snow didn’t fall gracefully, it pelted her like needles. The weather wasn’t crisp and clear, it was frigid and wet. [That didn’t stop her from making designs in the road with her clunky boots.] :namiku:


**This is inspiration from the cold weather that is pelting New England right now, and those who enjoy it even in its misery.**

**Tell me what you think. (ps. theme of story is within the story)**

* * *

The snow didn't fall gracefully, it pelted her like needles. The weather wasn't crisp and clear, it was frigid and wet. That didn't stop her from making designs in the road with her clunky boots.

It didn't seem fair to him. It was just plain mean for the weather to be humid and hot one day, and two days later, it looked like… this. Growing up on a tropical paradise may have been one reason for his sullen expression and refusal to dig out his pants and jacket from the heap he had happily made of them just two days earlier. So instead, he sat, freezing, in the small café downtown in shorts and sneakers, holding a cup of coffee.

He didn't even like coffee. But he figured, why not indulge in something that made his face contort while he thawed out his burning legs and stared at the disaster outside.

"I have an idea!" Sora had exclaimed, just a month ago, as they lay perfectly at peace on the burning beaches of Destiny Islands. "Let's go to Twilight Town, and visit everyone out there!"

At the time, it seemed perfectly exciting. Ditch everyone else, and go out to visit Roxas (who Riku merely tolerated) and Namine, and their gang. They would get a hotel room near where the other teens were now staying, and visit them and get to know how they lived without the crisis that corrupted their lives for so long. It seemed fun at the time.

At the time being the key words.

Once they arrived, Sora and Kairi were gone exploring, and Riku was left to wander around the hotel and train with some kid named Seifer who seemed to think he could whip his butt.

Right.

By the time Seifer realized that he didn't stand a chance against the "pansy with the silver hair", Roxas and Namine came around. Roxas brought his gang along, and they got along fine (as well as they could consider the tension carried between the two boys) and Namine settled for drawing off to the side with her newly acquired music player attached to her ears.

Namine had always fascinated Riku. Growing up with goofy Sora and dramatic Kairi, he wasn't used to someone who was perfectly fine with not being noticed. She simply kept to herself, and allowed people to approach her. Throughout the past month Riku had been in Twilight Town, he found himself with her more than anyone else. Sometimes they would just sit in the café, her with her sketchpad and him with his iPod. Speaking was something that wasn't required, like with so many other situations. It was just available. Silence was never awkward with Namine.

……………….

The day when it was so warm, Riku found her laying on the hill that overlooked the train tracks, her hands thrown over her eyes and her headphones in her ears. When he approached, she shot up like a canon, her eyes wide and frightened.

That was something else Riku noticed with Namine. She didn't like to be startled, or thrust into a situation that she wasn't prepared for. Take example, the day Riku tried to get her to bike ride with him.

How the girl had never been on a bike before, he could never understand. She looked so innocent with a helmet strapped to her head, her hands gripping the handlebars like they were her lifeline. Riku ran behind her, holding the bike, while she wobbled everywhere and screamed in delight.

"Riku! You're going to fast!" she shouted, curling up into a fetal position on the seat.

"Keep pedaling! You can't go that slow and expect to stay upright!" he hollered back, unable to keep a grin from his face as she toppled over for the fifteenth time. She sat up on the asphalt, and shot him the dirtiest look he had ever received from the girl. He laughed in shock at her extreme display of emotion.

"Okay, I tried. Give me credit, but I am done," she announced, her voice defiant and exhausted. She pulled off the helmet and tried to push her flaxen hair back in place. They were both sweating, and grabbed some ice cream before heading to a bench in the park.

She ate the ice cream so slowly; like it was the last food she would ever taste. His was already gone, and he reclined easily on the seat, locking his fingers behind his head and sighing.

"You like the **warmth**, don't you?" she asked, staring up at the bright sky.

"Well, I grew up in it," he replied. Then he looked at her.

"What kind of weather do you like?" he asked. She paused in her eating.

"Winter," she finally replied. He made a face, and she locked her piercing eyes on him.

"You don't like the cold?" she asked. He shrugged, not understanding why it wasn't perfectly obvious to her.

"I was never around cold, until…" he was silent as his thoughts reflected back to the past two years; traveling to so many different worlds and for a long time living in darkness, where there was no weather at all.

His thoughts were pulled back into the present as Namine responded.

"Neither was I. I wasn't exposed to anything before…" she paused, "Cold **is** my favorite because you can feel everything at once. You can go from being frozen outside to comfy inside in minutes. The snow makes a blanket on the ground, and in the wake of a storm, the entire world is muffled. I like that."

"I hate the cold. While you can be cold and muffled, I'll stick to my sun and beach," he muttered, shivering despite himself. He couldn't help it, cold reminded him of the time when he was possessed by Ansem, the time when he was always had the chills because of the foreign mind interrupting his thoughts and comfort.

"It reminds you of unpleasant things, just like warmth makes you think of home. You're lucky, nothing reminds me of home." She was picking at the hem of her white dress, her ice cream discarded. "Try to find something positive in cold, so you can move on from the bad memories. That's how I deal with it," she said quietly.

"I have nothing that makes me happy about the cold," he said coldly, and she flinched. He stood then, immersed in his thoughts. Cold to him was **found** in hell. They lied when they said that hell was full of fire, that would be heaven for him.

…………………………………

Now as he glared at the tiny ice flakes that spun around outside, he couldn't help but feel guilty. She had just been trying to make him feel better, but it was something he wasn't ready to deal with.

Not thinking about it was his way of dealing. Pretending it never happened seemed easier to him than wondering how to make it alright.

In the distance, he spotted a figure clad in a white coat. The streets were deserted, everyone had returned to their homes to seek warmth. Who would go outside at such a time, when the wind made your eyelashes freeze and your cheeks burn? As the figure got closer, he could make out blonde hair, white snow pants, and clunky purple boots that brought a shock of color to the black and white abyss.

The figure was walking slowly, and weaving around in the road, their shoulders relaxed and face turned out into the cold. They weren't hunched over and in a hurry like other people who had hurried by an hour earlier, they rather seemed to be enjoying the monster blizzard.

Riku stood up and walked over to the window for a closer look. Then, suddenly the person turned to the café. She had long blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. Namine.

Her eyes were closed and she spun around slowly **in** the middle of the street. She was so relaxed, so free looking. She didn't seem to care about anything but here and now as she weaved patterns in the snow with those strange boots. The girl who was afraid to ride a bike was enjoying herself in the worst storm of the year, as though she was excited for it.

Before he could think, he was pulling on his coat and opening the door to the café. **The** ice temperatures and snowflakes hit his face and he winced. How could she be outside at a time like this?

Then it hit him. This was her sun, her sandy beaches. Her happy memories lied in the cold, and she was going to enjoy that to the fullest. He walked over to her quietly, and suddenly she spun around and toppled into his arms.

"Riku!" she gasped in surprise, her lips and cheeks bright red, and her eyes glowing. When he just stared at her, she grinned and pulled him with her, and they were running, running full blast into the wind and the snow and she was pulling him in circles, her laugh a tinkling bell and her grin huge.

He was laughing too. It was freezing and his legs were red and stinging and his eyes were tearing up from the sheer cold, but all he could see was her smile and hear her laughed and feel her warm hands pulling him with her as they fell to the ground.

Without thinking, he pulled her to him, so she was leaning up against his chest and her face was peering up into his. She stared up at him, her face serious but her eyes still glowing with the **purest** of joy. Then he was wrapping his numb hand in her hair, and the other one was stroking her face, and her cheeks flushed brighter if it were possible.

His heart pounded against his **soul** as he leaned in and pressed his cold lips to her soft ones, and his arm went around her waist to bring her closer. She pulled away startled, but when she looked into his eyes, she was grinning, and he captured her lips again.

Suddenly, the cold and the wind and the fact that his legs were numb didn't matter anymore. He was warm and full **of** happiness he hadn't experienced in a long time. When they finally separated, he rested his forehead against hers, and smiled.

"Maybe the cold isn't so bad," he murmured, and she laughed and wrapped her hands around his neck.

The cold that once made him cringe and scowl now was beautiful and breathtaking. This girl who had had nothing and managed to find joy showed him that it was okay to regret, but also okay to move on.

He was her summer, and she was his **winter**.

* * *

review!!!! i love feedback.


End file.
